One new and specialized type of imaging involves the capture of low intensity light—often on the order of only tens to hundreds of photons—from a light-emitting sample. The low intensity light source may be emitted from any of a variety of light-emitting sources within a living specimen, e.g., luciferase expressing cells within a mammalian specimen. The source of the light indicates portions of the sample, such as traced molecules in a particular portion of a laboratory mouse, where an activity of interest may be taking place. Some specialized in-vivo imaging applications may include analysis of one or more representations of emissions from internal portions of a specimen superimposed on a photographic representation of the specimen. The photographic representation provides the user with a pictorial reference of the specimen. The luminescence representation indicates portions of the specimen where an activity of interest may be taking place.
Obtaining the luminescence representation may involve image capture over an extended period of time, e.g., minutes. The living specimen is typically anesthetized during this time to prevent movement that may compromise image capture. Current imaging systems employ anesthesia delivery systems that do not consistently and reliably anesthetize specimens or deliver anesthesia gases. These conventional systems are miniaturized relatives of anesthesia systems used in hospitals and the like. Systems of this nature are designed for a single recipient. However, many imaging systems as described above may require gas delivery to multiple small mammals. So far, scaling to multiple recipients, and via lower flow rates associated with the smaller recipients has been largely unsuccessful.
More specifically, the conventional anesthesia delivery systems rely on a single general upstream flow control for the entire delivery system and downstream on/off switches for each outlet. The result is an anesthesia system that does not reliably deliver gas to each outlet. Commonly, anesthesia gas does not arrive at each interface with a consistent pressure or flow rate. For example, when one outlet is turned on/off, the remaining interconnected outlets do not maintain consistent gas output. As a result, anesthesia gas for one or more of the mammals may be interrupted, fluctuate dramatically—or significantly diminished. Insufficient anesthesia gas supply may result in unintentional consciousness for a mammal, and unexpected locomotion that compromises imaging.
In view of the foregoing, improved anesthesia delivery systems would be desirable.